Season 8: Where Do We Go From Here
by Nessy09
Summary: Their last fight has left the Mall Rats broken and while trying to grow back together, their journey leads them away from the city. Can they overcome their losses and past horrors or is this the end of the tribe? When they come face to face with long dead friends, will it be a happy reunion or is the fighting not over yet?
1. Episode 1: A Storm is Coming

**A/N: And so it continues. I've been waiting for years to get to this point and I'm so excited it's finally happening. I want to dedicate this first chapter to Fleur Rouge, your review really meant a lot to me. I'm sad about Gel too, she was actually one of my favourites. I hope you'll like this season as much as the others.  
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* * *

 **Episode 1 – A Storm is Coming**

Darryl was standing in the doorway of the warehouse, watching on as the wind blew garbage across the yard. Over the course of the day the wind had really picked up and dark clouds were chasing over the sky. It was probably going to be one hell of a storm. Gel had always been afraid of thunder. During the last storm, she had hidden under their covers the whole day. Even though he couldn't understand how a bit of thunder could be so frightening, he had found it endearing. And he was never one to complain about spending a whole day under the covers with his beautiful girlfriend. He pushed his hands into his pockets and brushed his fingers over the eyepatch that he was carrying around with him everywhere now. It was all he had left of her.

Ruby joined him in the door and looked out at the weather. "It's gotten worse. I really hope the others are going to be back before this thing goes down." Kayla, Paul, Ty, Lottie and Sammy had been gone to look for Cara for almost a week now. It was about time for them to get back with Cara or without her.

He felt her hand on his shoulder. In Liberty Darryl had thought Ruby to be the prettiest and toughest girl he knew, but when he had figured out he had no chance with her, he had stopped paying attention to her. These days everyone paid attention to him. He always felt their gaze and heard their whispers, but not many people tried to talk to him.

"How are you holding up, Darryl?"

He shrugged. How should he answer that? When Gel was taken all he thought about was getting her back. Every day he woke up thinking of some plan to free her from the Chosen, but ever since he found out she was dead, everything had stopped. He kept thinking he would wake up and turn around to see her smiling at him, that it was all just a bad dream. Nothing felt real anymore.

"It'll get better", Ruby said, squeezing his shoulder. "I know it doesn't seem like it now, but it will." Darryl found that hard to believe, but he didn't know much about death. After his parents he had never been close enough to anyone to be affected by their deaths. Slade's death had been a shock to him, but this was different. He had planned his whole future around Gel and now he was left all alone.

When Ruby went back inside, Darryl followed her. The warehouses were divided into small rooms, but the Mall Rats had a bigger area to themselves in the back. Since their stay had only been supposed to be temporary, they'd thought it would be better to stay together. It had been two weeks since the defeat of the Chosen, but nobody had raised the question of going back to the hospital in a while. It seemed no one was very keen on going back to living there. Cloe, Patsy and KC were playing cards on one of the beds, while Ram, Tai-San, Lex, Ellie and Jack were having a conversation a bit further away. Their tribe had shrunk in the past couple of days, it almost seemed broken. Darryl sat down next to KC, being careful not to nudge his injured ankle.

Ruby stood between the beds. "I've just looked at the weather and it's gotten worse. There's definitely something big coming."

Lex snorted. "Are you a weather lady now?"

"It's called a meteorologist, Lex", Ram said.

Ruby ignored the comment and went on: "I'm getting worried about Lottie and the others. I think we should go look for them before they get caught in the storm."

"Don't you think they've noticed the change in the weather too? How does going after them help in any way?", Ram asked.

"It's been a long time since they went out. Maybe someone got injured and they can only move at a slow pace", Ruby said. "And I'm getting really tired of just waiting around here."

"I second that", Ellie agreed.

"Where do you suggest we look, if we do this?", Jack asked. "They could be anywhere."

"We could split up", Cloe said. "We'd cover more ground that way."

Ruby smiled at her. "So you're in?"

Cloe nodded, shaking her dark and blonde hair.

* * *

After Cloe had agreed to go out to look for the others, Patsy had felt obligated to go too. Mostly she wanted to look out for her friend. You'd never know when she'd have another episode and she was still the best to calm her down when that happened. It would be good to get out again, but she wasn't looking forward to taking a walk in this weather.

She sat in the dining hall, tying her boots and waiting for the others to get ready, when Cloe found her. "You don't have to come just because I'm going."

Technically that was true, but Patsy still felt that she needed to look out for her. Cloe's health and grasp on reality had improved tremendously since she found her years ago, but Patsy couldn't help but think of her as vulnerable. Cloe didn't like it, she knew. "Maybe that's not the reason I'm going."

"Really?" Cloe cocked an eyebrow. "It's definitely not because of Cara and you don't really know Sammy, Lottie and Kayla and… Ty and Paul, have your feelings changed about them?"

"No", she admitted. Patsy knew her brother was happy now and she also knew that Ty was happier now than he could have ever been with her, but it didn't change how she felt about them. Even if they were meant to be together, that was no reason to betray her like that. They had been two of the people she loved and trusted the most and they hadn't cared about her feelings at all. She knew that she should be worried about Paul, but she just wasn't. She wouldn't exactly be happy if she never saw him or Ty again, but she wouldn't be sad either.

"So you are only coming because of me", Cloe said.

"I also need to get out of here. KC is so needy it's driving me crazy."

Cloe laughed. "That ankle can't heal fast enough. He's making everyone insane."

The rest of their little group trickled into the dining hall one by one. Patsy was especially surprised to see Ellie join them. In the past she had preferred to stay back with Wylla, but apparently that was Jack's job now.

"Ellie, you're coming too?", Cloe said, voicing Patsy's thoughts exactly.

The older girl nodded, smiling. "I need to hone my skills, don't I? If I stay back too much, I'll forget all about investigating, adventuring and fighting. And it's good for Jack and Wylla to spend some time alone."

When Ruby, Ram and Darryl arrived, they headed out. The wind had picked up again, whipping their hair into their faces and tugging at their clothes. It was hard to see, with all the dirt and rubbish whirling up around them and Patsy whished, she had a pair of goggles. She had seen some nice green ones on a girl of the warehouse tribe that would go great with her outfit. Well, she probably wouldn't have lent them to her anyway.

"I know they took the way out of the city past the hospital", Darryl shouted over the wind.

"From there on the most obvious routes are the beach, the woods or to follow the road into the countryside", Ellie said. "We should split up, when we get there."

"Ram and I will go into the woods", Ruby said.

"Will we now? Do I get a say in this?" Ram asked, but his voice was playful, not the way he was talking to her, when Patsy and Cloe first arrived at the hospital. Patsy still didn't like him much, but she had to admit that he was useful. He was still creepy and how anyone could like to spend time with him was just beyond her.

"Patsy and I will take the beach", Cloe offered, ignoring Ram's banter. How she was able to be so calm around him still made Patsy wonder. Maybe that was why Cloe was always bringing Paul and Ty up. Maybe she couldn't understand how Patsy could hold onto her grudge, if she had decided to be civil with Ram. Cloe had always been the nicer of them and even Ram's brainwashing hadn't been able to change that.

"Guess that leaves Darryl and me with the road then", Ellie said.

"We only go for three hours tops", Ruby said. "And by that I mean, you're back at the warehouses in three hours. If you feel the weather gets too dangerous before that, you head back earlier."

Patsy doubted the storm would hold off for that long, but they might get lucky. They were all due for some luck now. Fighting the Chosen had taken everything out of the Mall Rats, it was time fate cut them some slack.

She was glad when they reached the city limits and split up like decided earlier. At least that meant she didn't have to see Ram's ugly face for a while. The wind was blowing in their faces as they made their way towards the beach and made it hard to keep the eyes open or even breathe.

"This is no ordinary storm", she shouted, even though Cloe was right beside her. "Maybe we should get back already."

"We haven't even been to the beach yet, Patsy", Cloe disagreed. "We'll make it back safely."

"Glad you're so optimistic, but we're already struggling and it hasn't even really started yet."

"More walking, less talking then."

Patsy rolled her eyes at her. There was no point in talking anyway. Most of their words got lost in the wind and all she had to say were complaints about the weather, which she was sure, Cloe wasn't interested in hearing.

Just as they reached the beach, it started raining. At first it was only a few droplets, enough to be annoying but no reason to seek shelter immediately. Patsy looked out at the sea and the huge, dark waves rolling to the shore. The water was pressing into the land, making the beach much narrower than it usually was. Imagine being in the water now, there would be no escape. It was terrifying. Just when she thought about drowning, the sky opened up above them and it started to pour down. Within seconds they were drenched from head to toe. The rain fell so densely it was hard to see only a few metres ahead of them.

"Cloe!", Patsy shouted. She could only see her silhouette to the right and reached out to grab her hand. "Cloe!" Her voice didn't even reach her own ears before the name was ripped away by the wind. When she finally found Cloe's hand it was cold and wet. She could see her lips moving, but didn't hear anything over the storm.

"What?"

Cloe clearly didn't hear her either. Instead of losing time by shouting at each other, the girls started to run towards the cliffs. Patsy was sure she had seen some caves in there right before the rain started. Running was hard in the sand and with their wet clothes weighing them down, not to speak of the horrible visibility conditions. She felt Cloe fall behind, her fingers slipping out of her grip. _Come on, Clo, keep up!_ She willed herself forward, damning the rain for making their grip so slippery. In front of her, she could see the opening of a cave now. _Just a little bit further._ Once inside the cave they could wait out the storm. That was when she lost hold of Cloe completely and then she clearly heard a scream over the howling of the storm.

Shivering Patsy stood in the storm looking around for her friend. It took a while to spot the dark figure lying in the sand only a few steps away from her. Cloe was lying face down in the sand and seemed not to move.

"Cloe! Come on, no time for a nap now!", she shouted as she knelt down next to her. When Cloe didn't respond, she turned her over. Cloe looked to be peacefully sleeping, if one ignored the sand sticking to half of her face, where she was bleeding heavily from a head wound. She must have fallen on something or gotten hit by something the wind picked up. "Shit!"

Patsy looped her arms under Cloe's shoulder and started dragging her to the cave. The rain was washing the blood and sand from Cloe's face, but the blood just kept coming. This was not good. They should never have split up. If anyone could help her now, it was Ruby and there was no way of getting to her while the storm was raging on.

She was exhausted as she reached the cave and only dragged Cloe far enough inside to shield her from the elements. Panting she sat down next to Cloe's head and started unbuttoning her jacket with shaky fingers. It was sopping wet, but it would still do for a pillow. Carefully she lifted Cloe's head and pushed it underneath, then set it back done.

"Cloe! Cloe, wake up!" She pushed back Cloe's wet hair to take a better look at the wound. She had to somehow stop the bleeding, but how? She knew nothing about first-aid or medicine at all. Already the cold was starting to creep into her body, sending shivers down her spine, making her teeth chatter. "Come on, Clo, don't leave me hanging like this."

* * *

There was not a worse place to be than the woods in the middle of a storm. Even the trees couldn't protect them from the pouring rain and the wind was breaking branches of the trees, flinging them through the air. One was flying right at them and ha grabbed Ruby to pull her to the ground. He liked to think he was over his paranoia of germs, but he still hated to lie in the mud like this. His work on the farm had not hardened him in that aspect. He could already feel his skin crawling with tiny bugs invisible to the human eye.

"This was the worst idea, you've ever had", he grumbled as they got back to his feet.

"Worse than breaking up with you?"

Ram frowned at her. Wasn't it one of those silent agreements between them that they wouldn't bring that up? It would make it easier to be just friends with her. By now he had let go of his anger towards her for just throwing him away when things got hard, but it hadn't changed that he still loved her. Something he would never admit to anyone. He knew perfectly well that at least part of her regretted the breakup, she had only intended it as a break. Ram hadn't liked the idea at all. He wasn't some toy she could put on the shelf, whenever she grew bored of it. He wouldn't let anyone treat him like that, even if it meant, they would only ever be friends again. There were other fish in the sea, right? At some point even those annoying emotions go away or find another person to stick to. At least Ram hoped that would be the case.

"We should find shelter", he said.

"Too soon?", Ruby asked. "Yeah, I guess, too soon. Sorry."

"I hope you didn't drag me out here in the middle of a storm to talk about that. That's not a conversation I intend to die for."

He quickened his pace, to get away from Ruby, but mostly to find somewhere for them to wait out the worst of the storm and not get hit by flying branches. It was harder to move now. The rain had turned the ground into slippery mud and the wind kept blowing water and leaves into their eyes. He shouldn't have agreed to come, but the prospect of staying behind with the nagging KC, lovesick Lex and stay-at-home-dad Jack hadn't been much better. And there was a very teeny tiny part of him that felt responsible for Sammy. He reminded him a bit of a younger Ved just with a much nicer attitude about him, well if you ignored the occasional suicidal and depressive thoughts.

"Ram, over there!" A bit of warmth seeped through his wet clothes into his arm, where Ruby had grabbed him. She pointed in between some trees, where Ram could see treehouses. He wasn't sure treehouses was the safest option right now, but it was better than staying out in the rain.

When they climbed up into the nearest treehouse they realized the place only had holes for windows and the door was broken, but at least the roof was still intact and could keep the rain out. What wouldn't he give for a nice fire now or just a set of clean and dry clothes.

Ruby was studying the wall, when she waved him over. Since he had nothing else to do, he joined her. Her fingers were shaking as she traced some carvings in the wall, birds, letters, different kind of leaves. "I think this is where the Harpies used to live", she said through chattering teeth.

"Guess so. They had the right idea to leave after the Consilium."

"You think so? I mean, the Anarchists and Chosen were bad, but it's our home. We can't just leave it."

"Looks like most of the tribe disagrees." He moved to the window to watch the storm outside. The rain was now so dense he could hardly see the treehouse on the opposite side of the clearing. "If the storm doesn't kill us, hypothermia definitely will."

"Always the optimist", Ruby said, sarcastically.

"I'm freezing and so are you. It's a simple fact."

"You're right." She looked down herself, then started to unzip her jeans jacket. "We should get out of these wet clothes." Without hesitation she lifted her shirt over her head and threw it on the floor just like her jacket. Ram just gaped at her. Was she for real right now? Apparently so, because it only took her a few more seconds until she was only wearing her underwear. He hadn't exactly forgotten how great she looked, but he had forbidden himself to think about it… much.

"Come on! You're the one worried about hypothermia", she said, pulling at the zipper of his jacket. She had almost taken it off him, when his brain function kicked back in and he swatted her hands away.

"Stop that! I can do it myself." But he didn't actually follow through on his words. It wasn't that he didn't want her to see him, because she had seen him naked plenty of times, but it was different now, wasn't it?

"We need body warmth and a blanket maybe, but we don't have one of those, so get on it", she said, then grinned at him. "And I thought you were a genius."

"This is all very convenient", he muttered while he pulled his wet shirt off. "I'm starting to think you did actually plan this."

Ruby laughed. "So I could get you out of your clothes? Yes, I practiced my rain dance for months now."

"Funny."

He felt awkward, when his trousers fell to the floor and he was standing in front of her half-naked and shivering, especially when he could see her checking him out. "Body warmth, eh?", he said almost a bit too defensively and opened his arms.

The smile on her face was almost shy, almost. He could see the familiar glint in her eyes right before she wrapped her arms around him and rested her head against his shoulder. At first he didn't feel much of her body warmth, which probably was due to them both being human icicles at this point, but slowly he started to feel a little warmer. Her idea hadn't been that bad, and he would be lying, if he said he didn't like holding her like that again.

"Maybe we should sit down", she said softly. That would be best, he didn't fancy standing like this for the next few hours. Shuffling around a bit, because neither of them wanted to let go of their only source of warmth, they finally found a spot to huddle together.

Neither of them said a word for a while. Ram was feeling too awkward, too overwhelmed with how much he still cared for her. It had been easy to ignore, when he had ignored her existence all together or there had been Chosen to fight and people to make fun of. There wasn't really anything in this place to take his mind of her and she was everywhere right now.

"I'm sorry", she whispered.

"You didn't make me come out here", he said. It was easier to talk normally to her, when he didn't have to look at her. "And despite all your practice, I don't think your rain dance caused this downpour."

"No, I meant… You know… I'm sorry for what happened to us."

"Do you really think this is the best place to talk about that?" Half-naked in the middle of nowhere, when both of them might freeze to death or get hit by lightning.

"I think it's the perfect place. At least here you can't avoid me."

He turned his head to look out of the window, where it was still pouring down. Thunder was rumbling now too and every now and then the otherwise dark treehouse was lit up by lightning outside. He could try. Having this conversation would be about as fun as being hit in the head by a tree, but Ruby would probably just run after him.

"I've missed you so much and… I know that I might screw everything up again by bringing it up now, but…" When she sighed, Ram could feel her hot breath on his chest. "Maybe I'm just too stubborn to give up on us yet. We're both pretty pig-headed, so it's almost surprising we lasted as long as we did."

"You were the one to call it quits in the first place, Ruby. That was all you", he reminded her.

"I wanted a break, because we were fighting all the time, not because I didn't love you anymore."

"And instead of working on that, you decided it was best to just abandon the sinking ship, I remember." He regretted the bitterness in his tone, not wanting Ruby to hear it, although she probably knew him well enough to know how he felt about that anyway.

"I know I hurt you that day, Ram, and that was never my intention. I wasn't happy anymore and I don't think you were either."

"But did you ask? You just assumed and you assumed wrong, because back then you were the only thing that made me happy. Everyone else hated me, probably still do, I wouldn't be surprised." He shrugged. The others in the tribe meant nothing to him. He had found a new appreciation for Ellie, Jack and Sammy, but all in all he only cared for Ruby's opinion of him. "And you chose that time to leave me too. It was really classy, Ruby."

"It's not my fault you used to hurt people everywhere you went and what you did to Cloe was disgusting. Just because I cared about you, didn't give you the right to treat me the way you did. You were always accusing me", she said. Ram had imagined her to be angry, but instead her voice broke. Had he really treated her so badly? He couldn't remember, most of the time he just felt ostracized by the others and that he didn't trust Ruby to stay with him. Well he had been right about that, he hadn't known that he had apparently driven her to that point.

He could pretend all he wanted, but knowing how vulnerable she was right now, Ram wanted nothing more than to protect her and make it all go away. Ignoring the stiffness in his fingers, he started to gently caress her back.

"I didn't know, I was doing that", he admitted. "I mean, I knew we were fighting, but to me it was never really about us. I was venting and you were the only one there to listen."

"You accused me of cheating on you. How is that not about us?"

"I… well… I was afraid of losing you."

"You could've handled that better." He felt her hand move up his spine until it rested in his neck, rubbing small circles. She always knew how tense he got there. "I didn't want to bring up the old issues again though. It's been a while and I think we've both learned some things about ourselves."

"Oh yeah?", he asked. "What do you think I've learned?"

"That you do need people. I know you like to seem blasé about everything, but you did stop Sammy from killing himself and have looked out for him ever since. You've helped him."

Looking back on that Ram couldn't explain why he had done it. At that point Sammy was nothing to him but a mopey teenager who hated his life and still he couldn't just let him blow his brains out. Maybe all that fear in Sammy's life had reminded him of himself prior to becoming Lord Ram of the Technos, maybe all the goodness of the Mall Rats had rubbed off on him.

"And what have you learned about yourself?", he asked, genuinely curious. Ruby hadn't changed at all in their time apart, not that he could tell.

"I realized that I could have good life without you, but I don't want that. I want you."

He looked down at her, unable to hide his smile. Her bluntness was one of the things he loved about her, even more so now. His heartbeat increased, when he saw the determination on her face. If he shot her down now, she wouldn't accept it and that was exactly what he had wanted from her all those months ago. Not that he wanted to tell her no at all.

"I still love you", she said, her words barely audible over the storm raging outside.

He cupped her face with his hands and brought her closer, telling her he did too with his eyes alone, before they slid shut and he kissed her. Her lips sparked a fire in his chest that warmed his whole body and even returned the feeling to his numb fingers. He had missed her, but he hadn't known how much until now. Suddenly he was glad about the storm trapping them here for what might be hours, because he never wanted to let go of her again.

* * *

The bad news was they were stuck in the middle of nowhere with a thunderstorm raging on and they were only protected by an old bus stop. The good news was it was one of those old fashioned ones with walls on each side and just a small opening to get in and out, so they weren't completely drenched. He and Ellie were sitting opposite each other on the bench and it was kind of awkward. Darryl couldn't remember ever having spent time alone with her. When they were still on the road and looking for the others it was different. At least there was the weather and their surroundings to comment on, but both of them had pointed out the terrible weather several times now and wondered when it would stop even more often.

"I bet you'd rather have gone with Ruby, right?", Ellie asked after a while.

Darryl shrugged. He didn't really care about his company these days and the only reason he was uncomfortable with Ellie was, because he could sense that she felt the silence was awkward. Out of everyone in their group Cloe would probably have been most the pleasant, she seemed like someone who would hang out with you in silence and not care. Ruby would just have wanted to talk about Gel and he didn't hate that, but there was only so much talking he could do. None of his memories or words would bring her back, so he was getting a bit tired of it all.

"It's not you", he told Ellie eventually. "I'm just not very good company at the moment."

"I didn't expect you to be, Darryl. I was a complete mess when Alice died, I know how hard it is to lose someone you love so much." She smiled a lopsided smile, then looked away. "I just don't feel like I'm the best person to be stuck with in this situation. I would offer to listen if you wanted to talk, but… I don't think I'm the person you want to talk to."

"That's okay. I don't really want to talk about anything if that's alright."

"Yeah, yeah, of course. We'll just wait out the storm", she said quickly.

He pulled Gel's eyepatch out of his pocket again, remembering how happy she had been, when they had given it to her. Losing an eye had seemed like the worst thing that could happen to her at the time, but Gel had adjusted to it quite fast. She had been worried about him not being attracted to her anymore, but Darryl had never looked at her differently. Whenever he caught a glimpse of the empty eye socket, it had always just reminded him how close he'd been to losing her and he was even happier that he hadn't. Now the eyepatch was all he had left.

When he felt Ellie watching him, he looked up again. He didn't mind the pity on her face, he pitied himself too.

"She always looked like a glamorous pirate to me", Ellie said. "When she first joined us, she was such a pain. Always loud, always needing to be the centre of attention especially with the guys. Now it's really quiet."

"It is", he agreed. "Can I tell you a secret?"

"Of course. I won't tell anyone."

He hesitated for a moment. He hadn't even told Kayla or KC, not even Ruby when she pressured him to talk about his feelings. Now that she was gone, it wasn't even important, was it? "I was going to ask her to marry me", he said, quietly. "I had it all planned out already. Well, the speech, not where and when. It had to be something big, you know Gel."

"Oh, Darryl…"

"I was going to tell her that I'd want to spent my life by her side and never want to be separated again. That I'd protect her and love her, because being with her had made me the happiest man on earth." He was unable to cry now, having shed all his tears in the past days. He wasn't all that sad anymore, just… He didn't really feel anything at all.

There were tears in Ellie's eyes though and it made Darryl feel strange to know that she cared so much about him. Maybe being a mother had made her emotional or maybe she had always been and he'd just never known.

"Why aren't you and Jack married? Haven't you been together for years?"

"Well… we've been separated a lot of the time. I don't know why. If he asked, I'd say yes, but honestly I don't see either of us as the marrying-type. We don't need a ring and a party to know, we love each other."

Darryl could understand that, but he had always wanted to get married and have kids at some point and even though the world had changed, he wanted to keep that custom alive. Maybe he was old-fashioned. The constant noise of the rain, wind and thunder quieted down to a low rustle and eventually he could only hear a few scattered drops hitting the roof over them.

"I think it stopped."

Both of them jumped off the bench to look. They had been sitting inside the little bus stop for ages, so long, that the prospect of getting out and moving was more than exciting. Laughing Ellie jumped outside, when they discovered it really had stopped.

"Should we head back now? Or go on looking for the others?" Darryl asked. If she wanted to get back to Wylla and Jack, he would understand, but he wouldn't mind going a bit further. He loved being out in the countryside again, it felt a bit like home.

"After that storm they might be hurt. I think we should keep looking. We can head back tomorrow morning if that's alright with you", Ellie suggested.

"That sounds good."

* * *

Looking up at the wooden ceiling, Ram couldn't help but think that maybe everything would fall into place now after all. Things had felt up in the air after the defeat of the Chosen, but now he felt like anything was possible. It was cheesy and of course, he'd never say it out loud, but he truly believed tons of options had just opened up to him.

They had been so caught up in each other that they had barely noticed the storm outside moving on, but when they heard someone climb the ladder to their treehouse, they were fully alert. They rushed to quickly pull their wet clothes on again, but hadn't covered themselves enough to be considered decent, when Sammy and Lottie barged in.

"Ruby! Ram! We saw you heading up here after the storm started, but we didn't want to get soaked so we w-…" Lottie's cheerful words drained from her lips, when they saw them. Their jaws fell open and then Lottie quickly turned her back on them. "Oh my god! Eww!"

Sammy didn't have the same decency. He stared at them, well, mostly Ruby, until Lottie noticed and gave his arm a sharp pull and he turned around as well. Ram took his time putting on the rest of his clothes, he wasn't too excited about it, considering how cold and wet they were and the whole situation amused him more than anything else. Ruby seemed to be slightly embarrassed, at least she did hurry into her clothes and the deep blush on her cheeks gave it away.

"You can turn around now", Ruby said, but the younger Mall Rats took their time to do so, not trusting her word.

"What are you doing out here anyway?", Sammy asked.

"Looking for you. Ideally we would've found you before the storm", Ruby answered, while running a hand through her knotted hair. "Where's the rest of you?"

"We split up to look for Cara", Lottie said. "Kayla headed into the countryside, she wanted to ask around at Shane's farm and Ty and Paul wanted to look along the coast."

"Seems to be the obvious solution", Ram said. "Let's hope the others all found shelter as well."

"We should check. Cloe, Patsy, Darryl and Ellie can't haven gotten far before it started. We can find them and then go back to the warehouses", Ruby said.

"Kayla, Paul and Ty should be on their way back too. We agreed only to go for a couple of days. I hope they had more luck finding Cara." Lottie seemed worried, which Ram found amusing. If any of the little ones could look out for themselves, it was Cara. That girl was mean. She'd probably clock a guy just for looking at her weird. That was one person he wouldn't miss having around.

"I'm sure they have", Ruby said comfortingly.

Sammy, who had been looking out the window during the short conversation, quickly turned around and held a finger against his lips. Immediately alarmed Ruby rushed to him, to get a look at what he had seen. Ram followed a little slower. There probably wasn't anything out there right after the storm that required such a big reaction, but Sammy was jumpy.

"What is it?", Lottie whispered.

"I saw some people outside. Maybe three. They didn't look friendly."

"Well, good thing, I brought this." With a wide grin he pulled his zapper out of his pocket and strapped it to his wrist. Now that he had it back in working condition, he had gotten used to carrying it around, usually concealed, because he didn't want to unnerve anyone in the city, but right now, he was glad that he had taken up the habit.

Ruby grabbed his arm, looking at him sternly. "Don't go after them!"

"Not after them. I can easily lead them away from here and take them out with this baby. Then we can head back to the city without worrying about them following us", he explained. "They've probably tracked us here. We left plenty of footprints out there."

They couldn't know if the people out there were dangerous or not, but Ram would rather not risk it. There was definitely a chance of them attacking them from behind on their way back and in that case his zapper wouldn't do them any good and Lottie and Sammy weren't the most skilled fighters.

"That's a great idea", Sammy said with the usual enthusiasm he had for all of Ram's ideas. It was nice to have a fan of his work again.

"I don't know." Ruby still hadn't let go of his arm.

He smiled at her. "Come on, Ruby, let me do it. It'll only take a few minutes and then we can find the other and get back. Put on some dry clothes, get food, sleep in a real bed." He could see the resolve dwindle with every argument he made and in the end her grip loosened. "I'll be back in no time." Sealing the promise with a quick peck to her lips, he rushed out of the treehouse.


	2. Episode 2: This is How I Disappear

**Thanks again for the review, Fleur Rouge. It makes updating so much more fun. I hope you like this one as well :)**

* * *

Now that he was finally able to burn of some of this energy by training, Lex was feeling a lot less restless. Tai-San had given him the okay this morning. Of course he didn't need her approval and had felt like doing something days ago, but needed to stay on her good side. He was on his tenth round around the yard, when he spotted Tai-San meditating in a quiet corner. He knew, how she hated to be interrupted during her meditation, but it was so tempting. She was finally back and she was not scared or angry at him. All he wanted to do was spend his time with her, but he also didn't want to smother her. She had told him, she needed time to get readjusted, to get to know them all again and Lex wanted to give it to her. Too bad he wasn't a very patient guy. No. He had to keep running, had to give her some space.

She was so different now, a bit more self-conscious, a bit less spiritual and a whole lot more distant. Underneath all that he could still see his Tai-San though. She was still there and he needed her to come back. He needed her to come back to him specifically. He'd had several ideas that would jog her memory, subtle of course, because Tai-San didn't appreciate it, when he pushed her, but none of them had worked. Maybe he should try a Sleeping Beauty on her and just kiss her. That would have to do something to her. He would definitely enjoy that method of jogging her brain.

He ran another five rounds with his brain filled of Tai-San and the love they were sure to have again. By the time he finally stopped, Jack and KC had come outside as well. Jack especially had been on edge since the storm yesterday, worrying about Ellie. Lex didn't envy that group in the least to have been stuck out there in that weather, but he thought them capable enough to have found shelter. They'd probably come back today, wet and miserable.

KC looked up at the blue sky. "Hard to believe it looked like the end of the world yesterday. Wanna bet who's gonna complain the most? I'd say Patsy."

"Nah, it's gotta be Ram", Lex said.

The others seemed to have no interest in a bet. Tai-San didn't say much these days anyway, she didn't really feel like she had earned her right to and Jack was bouncing the baby, his eyes never leaving the main gate.

"Good choice", KC agreed. "What do you wanna bet?"

"Don't have anything."

He had left the cinema barely conscious in nothing but a soiled pair of trousers and since then, Ryan had only brought him some clothes from the hospital and that was it. KC didn't have anything either, he knew. All his stuff burned, when the Chosen set fire to the farm and since then KC hadn't been back to the hospital either.

"Hey look!", Jack interrupted and drew their attention back to the gate, where Paul and Ty were just returning. Lex saw Jack's face fall, when it became clear it was just the two boys. It had been a big surprise to Lex, when he had found out they were together now. How anyone would choose a bloke over a beautiful girl like Patsy was beyond him, but he'd always thought Ty to be weird.

"Where are the others?", Jack asked, when Paul and Ty reached them.

"Aren't they here yet? We'd agreed to be back by today, well yesterday, but then the storm happened", Ty said. "We were lucky, we'd already reached the outskirts of the city, when it started."

"You don't know where they are?", Tai-San asked.

"Well… we know, know that Lottie and Sammy went into the… the woods and Kayla, she wanted t-to ask on the farm", Ty said. His stammer was annoying; how hard could it be to get the words out straight? Any time he suddenly found himself with more than two people looking at him, he got nervous as if he had some big secret to hide. As if everybody didn't already know he was gay.

"And what about Ellie and the others?", Jack asked.

"Ellie?"

"They went out to look for you yesterday", Tai-San explained. "Wanted to get you back before the storm got here."

Paul signed something. By now Lex was probably the only one who hadn't bothered to learn a single sign, but he didn't see the point. Paul had talked back in the mall and he didn't see, why he couldn't do it again instead of having everyone learn his stupid language.

"We haven't seen anyone since we went out", Ty said. "Couldn't find Cara either."

"That's not good. They were out there yesterday, who knows what happened to them", Jack said, starting to pace. "They could be injured or sick or even struck by lightning, who knows. If they were okay, they'd be back by now."

Tai-San carefully took the baby from him. It was a good look on her. That had been his dream once, her by his side and a couple of kids at their feet, but that dream had moved out of reach long ago and even though she was here now, she was still so far away. Tai-San hadn't been very interested in babies back then either, so who knew if she was even interested in that.

"We should give them some time", Tai-San said. "They could've decided to use the night to rest up and come back today. It's still early."

"Or they're lying somewhere in a ditch and we're losing valuable time."

* * *

It was so cold and her head hurt like someone had used it as a punching back. She vaguely remembered running through the rain, Patsy pulling her along, but after that everything was gone. Maybe she had an episode. It was always hard for her to form new memories, when she was battling the effects of Reality Space. Where were they now?

Slowly she sat up, which made her head hurt even more. For a moment her vision swam and as she touched her temples, she flinched away, when a sharp pain shot through her. That was new. She must've gotten hurt somehow. Looking down at herself, she could see dark patches of dried blood on her jacket and also on the hard cave ground. She found Patsy's jacket balled up and bloody. Was she hurt as well?

"Patsy?" She tried to shout, but she could only croak. Her throat was on fire and slowly she realized, how cold she really was. Her clothes were still damp, which meant she had laid here in wet clothes for hours. She pulled Patsy's jacket over her own and started to crawl to the cave opening. She felt weak and wasn't sure her legs could hold her, so crawling would have to do for now. But where was Patsy? She would never have left Cloe alone, if she was injured.

* * *

Ruby had stood by the window ever since Ram had left, which was now several hours ago. It was clear to all of them that some part of his plan had gone horribly wrong. Even if he wanted to play a prank on them, he would not have spent a night outside in the woods voluntarily. The people Sammy had seen, hadn't been back either.

"We should go out and look for him."

"And what if those people are still there? They looked strong", Sammy said.

"Well, I hope they are. If they have Ram, I want him back!"

"You can't fight three of them. I don't even think all of us can fight three of them", Lottie said, glancing at Sammy. Ruby knew what she meant. Even though Sammy was better now, it was no secret he was still terrified of fighting and she didn't want him and Lottie to fight anyway. Not when they didn't have to.

"Why don't you go back to the warehouses and I'll look for Ram?"

"No, I just said, you can't fight them. You don't even have a zapper."

Ram had had one and apparently it hadn't done him any good. She had just gotten him back a few hours ago and now he was gone? He had to be out there somewhere and she determined to find him. She had meant it, when she said, she wasn't ready to give up on them and that was still true if he had been taken by some weird people in the woods.

"I'm not leaving him behind, Lottie", she said. "Maybe he had to fight them and they left him out there, injured and needing help."

Lottie and Sammy shared a look, then Sammy sighed. "Fine, then we'll come with you."

Ruby didn't argue with that. Although she wanted them so stay safe, she also didn't want to go alone. It would be good to have more people look around for Ram and if they really did find him injured, Sammy and Lottie could run for help, while she stayed with him. Him admitting that he had felt let down by her, had meant a lot to her and she didn't want to abandon him again. Never again.

"Okay, let's go then."

The ground was still soft and slippery from all the rain and there were broken branches everywhere. Even some trees had been uprooted, making it difficult to find a safe path through the woods. They could've really needed someone who could read tracks. All they knew was which direction Ram had taken from the treehouses, but then after that it was a wild guess.

"I wonder who those people were. They looked like hunters", Sammy said after a while. "I think one of them was carrying a rifle."

"A rifle?" Why didn't he say that earlier? They hadn't heard any shots, but who knew how far Ram had lead them away.

"Yeah, another one had a crossbow. They were soaked, probably had been out there during the storm as if it was just a shower of summer rain."

A crossbow and a rifle and people who didn't care about a storm that had uprooted trees all around them? Could this get any worse?

* * *

They had waited until noon and now even Lex couldn't help but worry about his friends. Jack was already going through the roof, KC wasn't any better and once Paul had found out Patsy had been out there too, he had wanted to run off immediately.

"I agree, we can't wait any longer", he said, when all of them had gathered in their quarters. "We should go out and look for them, but I think we should all go."

"KC can't go."

"I have crutches now", the green-haired boy said. There was no way, he was going to be left behind. He hated that, Lex knew.

"You'll slow us down", Jack argued. "They might need our help now."

"And your baby won't?", KC asked.

Jack glared at him, but didn't argue with that. He put Wylla in the basket to carry her on his back and the baby started clucking happily.

"Good. KC is on crutches, you carry the baby. We won't be fast, but we won't just sit around and do nothing", Lex said. Was it bad that he was excited about this? He couldn't remember the last time he had been out of the city and he honestly didn't want to come back at all. He didn't believe Amber and her little group would come back and now with most of the others gone as well, it felt clear to him, they had to move on. Find somewhere else to call home.

Since they had next to nothing at the warehouses they were packed and ready to go in a few minutes. Ben saw them off, but the boy had been closest to Amber and Bray and Lex felt he was only making sure, they were truly out of his hair.

Ty and Paul were leading the way, which Lex only allowed because he wanted to be closer to Tai-San, who felt the need to stick with KC who was the slowest of their little group. He also didn't fancy to walk with them, because they were terrible at conversations. One couldn't hear and the other couldn't really speak. They were perfect for each other.

"Do you think it's a good idea?", Tai-San asked, when she caught up with him. "I don't know how far KC can go before he needs a break."

"He would've caused a scene if I had tried to leave him behind and I can't blame him."

"What if the others come back and everyone's gone?"

"Do you believe that is gonna happen?", he asked. "What do you feel?"

She looked surprised that he of all people should ask her about that. He had made fun of her sensing things so many times, but he also knew she believed in that sort of stuff and had decided to support her no matter what. Besides, she had been right about a lot of things she had seen in dreams or had a feeling about.

"I feel… I feel like there's still something back in the city for us, but I also feel something pulling us away", she said slowly. "I can't really explain it."

"Exactly. Well, I don't feel like we're leaving anything behind, but I do feel like we need to somewhere else. Something is calling for us, I know it", he said, smiling confidently.

It made her giggle. "I didn't know you were so in touch with your chakras. I've heard very different things from the others."

"Well, I had a good teacher. You would go on and on about negative energy in the tribe, it's hard not to pick up on a thing or two." A little lie or two wouldn't hurt, right? He did grow to be more accepting of her strange ways, but he wouldn't go so far as to say he really picked some of it up. Whenever he went along with it, it was because he did it out of love for her or because he could get something out of it. He really did like the whole sleeping with her to realign his chakras.

"Were the Mall Rats religious?"

"Not really. It's pretty hard to believe in God, when all the adults have been wiped out by a virus. We usually only did some of that spiritual stuff, when you insisted on it and there were the weddings." Even without the Virus he had trouble seeing any of the Mall Rats as the religious type. Ryan and Salene maybe, Cal would've fit in with them too.

"That's a relief", Tai-San admitted. "Being with the Chosen was a terrifying experience. Watching all these smart and independent people blindly follow one person out of belief. It was not right."

"Tell me about terrifying", he muttered. So far he hadn't talked to anyone about his time with the Chosen, it was something he didn't want to relive. Thinking back on it, he could not say what had been the worst. Torture, starving, sleep deprivation and then watching Gel being beaten to death. Her cries still haunted his sleep. Even though he knew the Guardian was gone for sure this time, he was still dreaming of him. He could even see him standing over his bed, when he awoke from his nightmares. One of the reasons he wanted to leave the city was his hope he'd leave the ghosts behind with it.

"And all the people that died for that strange belief. I still feel so guilty for helping Jaffa become as powerful as he was, for helping him convince people of his way." She looked away. Lex knew she was trying to deal with the guilt, but did not know how to help her. Part of him blamed her too, blamed her for believing that son of a bitch more than them, for taking Brady, for leaving Gel behind. He hadn't asked her about her time with the Chosen either, because he was too afraid of what she'd have to say. He had seen her with him, there had been something there and he didn't want to know how much of it was for show and how much was genuine affection.

* * *

It had taken all her strength to get make her way up the beach to the road, but there was no sign of Patsy anywhere. Even though Cloe had only walked, rather crawled a few metres, she was exhausted and she couldn't stop shivering not to mention the throbbing pain in her head. She needed to get back to the others and get help, for herself and to look for Patsy. The waves were rolling towards the shore peacefully, but she remembered how dangerous the water had been during the storm. Had Patsy gone into the water for some reason? Maybe to clean her wound. Cloe just couldn't remember.

Her eyes were drooping, exhaustion taking over. If she fell asleep now, she'd surely be done for. She knew she was sick and she was hurt and there was nobody around. She tried to go further, but she had no strength left and just fell into the dirt of the street. Her vision started to swim and just when she was about to lose consciousness, she heard footsteps approaching quickly. "Patsy?", she asked weakly, not able to raise her head and look.

Strong arms lifted her up. Not Patsy then. Someone was saying her name, but it sounded far away. How did they know her name? Had Patsy gone for help? Was she back now? Her legs were lifted as well and they carried her for a while. There were more footsteps, more people.

"Is she alone?", someone asked. Such a familiar voice.

Cloe blinked trying to open her eyes and clear her vision, it took her several tries until she gazed up into Tai-San's worried eyes. Behind her she could see Lex, Ty, Paul, Jack and KC, but no Patsy. So she hadn't actually gone for help, she had just disappeared.

"She is hurt and sick", Tai-San said. "We need to make a fire and warm her up. I'll brew her some herbal tea."

"We have to look for the others", Jack said. "They could need our help too."

"Right now Cloe needs our help, Jack. And she might now where the others are."

The thought of sleeping by a fire and drinking tea was wonderful. Someone was going to take care of her and make sure she felt better, it almost made her cry.

An hour later, Cloe was finally feeling warm again, although it had taken a fire and both Paul and KC's jackets for her to achieve. Tai-San had taken care of her wound and given her some tea that had helped a bit with her throat. Across the fire Paul signed to her. It was easy enough, but her brain was still working slowly so it took her almost a whole minute to understand then respond with the right signs. "I woke up alone. I don't know what happened to Patsy."

Next to her KC shifted, no position feeling comfortable with his foot in a cast. "What about the others?"

"It was just me and Patsy. We split up to cover more ground."

"We did the same", Ty said.

They looked up when Jack and Lex returned. They had gone to search their immediate surroundings for Patsy, but Cloe hadn't thought they'd succeed anyway. Jack took Wylla from Ty and rocked her gently in his arms. "There's definitely been people out here. There's footprints everywhere."

"It must have been a big tribe", Lex said as he sat down next to Tai-San. "My best bet is they took Patsy. They headed into the woods."

Paul signed immediately, but Lex just stared at him blankly. She was about to translate, when Ty beat her to it. "He wants to go after them."

"Right", Lex drawled. "We have a cripple, a daddy, a sick girl and a deafo. Oh right and you can't fight for shit. Ain't gonna happen."

"Don't call him that!", Cloe snapped, followed by a coughing fit. KC patted her back gently, but if anything it only made her more uncomfortable.

"Maybe if we find the others, we can go after them", KC suggested. Even after she breathed evenly again, he left his hand on her back. Cloe didn't mind, she quite enjoyed the extra warmth, but part of her remembered how offended her younger self would've been by that. Back then KC was the grossest boy, she and Patsy had ever known and being close to him had been unbearable. Times changed.

"By big I didn't mean ten people."

"Lex is right. They outnumber us and if they really did take Patsy, they probably aren't too friendly. I doubt we could fight them", Jack said.

Her head was swimming with all this talk of tribes and fighting. Hadn't they just gone through this? Were the Chosen not defeated? She scanned the faces around the fire, trying to figure out if she was hallucinating or dreaming. Right in front of her: Paul. Patsy's brother. Then Ty. His boyfriend and Patsy's ex. There was a lot of tension there. Then… She stared at the lanky boy with bright blue hair and couldn't find a name that matched. Had he always been here? He noticed her staring, but instead of saying something, he just smirked at her. Ever so slowly he raised his arms and crossed them. No, no… Cloe closed her eyes. He wasn't real. There weren't any Chosen here. But when she opened them again, he was still there and he wasn't alone. The Guardian was standing just a few feet away from them, but her friends didn't see them. They just kept talking about this mysterious tribe, while the Chosen gathered around them. She had to fight them, had to delete them. Her fingers fumbled for the zapper on her wrist to turn the setting from stun to kill, but her zapper was gone.

"Cloe! Cloe! Calm down!"

Her head jerked, when KC grabbed her hands to keep her from fidgeting. Her heart was beating so fast now, she could hear the blood rush in her ears. There was no time to lose. The Chosen were closing in on them, she had to delete them.

"Cloe, listen to me", KC said. "Focus on me. Whatever you're seeing right now is not real."

"They're coming! They're everywhere!"

"No. Tell me where we are and how we got here."

"We're at the beach." She wanted to get away from KC, get up and fight, but his grip was firm. The boy with the blue hair grabbed KC by the neck now, but still his eyes were calm. That couldn't be real. KC would never allow a Chosen to touch him like that. "Patsy and I… We… we were looking for the others."

"What others?"

"Uh…" She couldn't remember. Who had they been looking for? Jack? The Chosen had taken Jack, but… Her eyes flickered to the orange-haired boy holding the baby, sure enough, Jack was here. "I don't know."

"You were looking for Ty and Paul, who else?"

She looked at the two boys, saw the worry in their eyes and that's when she realized, she was having an episode. Something wasn't real. When KC tugged on her hands, she looked back at him and at the Chosen behind him. They weren't real. They had defeated them. The Guardian was dead. They were looking for their friends, not because the Chosen had taken them, but because there had been a storm.

"Kayla", she said, the names coming back to her now. "Cara, Lottie, Sammy."

"That's right." KC smiled. His touch lingered for a moment, then he drew his hands back. "Are you okay? See anything frightening?"

"No." Embarrassed she looked into the fire, avoiding to make eye contact with any of the others. One day they all thought of her as a friend, just another member of the tribe and then she'd have an episode like this and it reminded all of them that she was damaged goods. It was all Ram's fault. He had taken her and doctored with her brain until it had stopped working properly. She would never forgive him for making her the way she was now, but she had decided not to hold on to that hate. It wouldn't magically fix her brain and that was truly all she wanted.

Tai-San came to kneel next to her, offering another steaming cup of tea which Cloe took gratefully. The sympathy in those sparkling blue eyes made her feel a little better. She wasn't the only one, who was damaged goods. If anyone could understand it was Tai-San, who had no memories to rely on anymore. Cloe would rather have to battle through her hallucinations forever, than to lose her memories all together. At least she still knew who the people around her were.

"You should rest now." Cloe couldn't argue with that. There was nothing, she wanted more than to sleep for hours.

* * *

"We should go back", Lottie said, but Ruby ignored her. They had to find Ram. She would not go back without him. She would find him. "Ruby! We're going in circles. There haven't been any footprints for ages."

Part of her knew that Lottie was right, but she couldn't just give up. It was not fair. They had finally talked and decided to try again and now he was gone? Just disappeared into the woods with these armed people? That couldn't be right. Ram was a good shot with his zapper, he could've made it. Why hadn't he come back? She was getting more and more frantic, mistaking every little dent in the ground for a footstep, seeing signs where there were none.

Lottie grabbed her hand and pulled her back. "Stop!" Her voice echoed from the trees. Ruby didn't want to look at her or Sammy, knowing fully well what she'd see in their faces. They had given up long ago and had only followed her as to not to lose her too. They had searched most of the day and Lottie was right. They'd gone in circles.

"Stop", Lottie repeated, this time a bit softer. "He's gone. I don't know where to, but he's gone."

"No! He wouldn't just leave like that."

Sammy stepped forward now. "He didn't. But… at least there are no signs of a fight, they probably took him alive."

"Yeah, he's definitely alive."

"And why would they take him alive?" she asked, her voice raising. The Chosen had taken Lex alive as well and done unspeakable things to him. Ruby still didn't know all about it, because Lex refused to talk about it, but seeing his wounds had been enough. "What are they going to do to him?"

"We don't know, Ruby." Lottie let go of her hand. "But they are not here anymore and we have no idea where they could've gone."

He really was gone, wasn't he? Now she knew he loved her back, but he was gone. Just like that. She swallowed the lump in her throat, not allowing the tears to fall. She was not going to cry for him. He wasn't dead and she wasn't going to cry over a temporary loss. He was gone, but just for now. When she found him again, she would kick his ass for doing such a stupid thing and getting himself captured by some unknown people right after they had professed their love for each other. He was such a dumbass.

She straightened her shoulders. "We should get back before the others start to worry. Then we can keep looking tomorrow."

They looked at each other again, but didn't argue with that, which was fortunate, because Ruby would not stop looking for Ram just because it seemed hopeless right now. The other probably wouldn't be willing to go after him since he wasn't exactly popular in the tribe, but if that meant she had to go after these people on her own, so be it.

"They're probably already worried", Lottie said, as she and Sammy led the way back to the treehouses. "You at least, should've been back before the storm, right?"

"That was the plan. I don't think any of the others did. We'd barely left the city when it started."

The way back seemed so much shorter, but maybe that was because they had gone in circles. Now that they had a clear goal, it was easier to find the right way. As they passed the treehouses, Ruby looked up and remembered the day before. How he had begrudgingly invited her into his arms, his voice low and soft as they spoke about their relationship and then his hands and his lips leaving a trail of fireworks on her body. She could already picture herself telling the story to Ellie over a cup of coffee, though she had thought it would be accompanied by joyous laughter and not this forlorn feeling.

Deep in her in thoughts, she didn't realize Sammy and Lottie had stopped and almost ran into them. Why had they stopped? Sammy turned around briefly to put a finger against his lips and tell her to stay quiet. Ruby listened intently and, yes, someone was there. For a brief moment her heart leapt in the hopes of seeing Ram again, but then she heard a couple of voices and knew immediately it wasn't him. The three Mall Rats crept into a bush they had just passed, not eager to be seen by whoever was out there. If they were the same people that had caused Ram's disappearance they would follow them at a safe distant, but if they saw them, they'd surely be captured as well. If that even was what had happened to Ram. Part of her was still picturing different things, worse things.

"This is madness! We can't possibly go any further." She knew that voice. It had a familiar tone, but Ruby couldn't exactly pinpoint who it was. And when it's owner came into view, she knew why. Tai-San hadn't been with them for very long and Ruby hadn't talked to her much except for when they were both treating KC and Lex, so her voice was not one Ruby would recognize immediately.

Sammy and Lottie seemed to have realized they were hiding from friends as well, because all three of them stepped out of the bush at the same time. Tai-San, who was closest to them, yelped and jumped away, but she quickly regained her composure and smiled at them.

"San!" Lex rushed to her side, always eager to play the hero for a damsel in distress.

"It's just us", Lottie said, raising her hands in mock-surrender.

Ruby looked at the little group of Mall Rats. Why on earth was KC out here? He could barely walk on crutches and yet here he was in the middle of the woods. And what had happened to Cloe? She looked like a zombie, leaning mostly on Paul as they walked. Why were they all here?

"What happened to you?", Sammy asked.

"We were worried about you, when you didn't come back", Ty said.

The sun was setting over the treetops now. Well, they did have a point. If it hadn't been for their search for Ram, they would've been back at noon at the latest and now it was already nightfall. And why was Cloe here but not Patsy?

"Tai-San is right", Ruby said. "There's a place we can stay the night not far from here." Questions were running through her brain, but right now it was most important to get back to the treehouses. Apparently this meant there was no place in the city to go back too. No place to call home.


	3. Episode 3: Crossing of Paths

**Episode 3 – Crossing of Paths**

Restlessly Lex paced around the clearing. They had stayed in the treehouses for a little over a week now. Cloe had developed a bad fewer and Tai-San had refused to move her until she was better and she and Ruby agreed that it was too early for KC to move around the woods on his bad foot yet. KC and Jack had been especially adamant about staying close to the city in case the others returned. Every day Jack would go up to the road and wait and every night he came back looking a bit more miserable. Ruby on the other hand was searching the woods, even though they all knew the trail had gone cold days ago. How anyone could be so attached to Ram, he didn't understand.

He'd wanted to get out of the city, but living in treehouses that didn't even keep out the cold, was far from what he had pictured. He'd had his fair share of living in the wilderness, when they had tried to convince the Ecos to join their resistance. Sure, it had only been a couple of days, but it had been plenty for Lex.

Laughter filled the air for a moment. Lex glared at the kids at the fire. It was Cloe's and KC's fault they were stuck here and now they just sat around laughing? Cloe's fever had gone down today and Tai-San had allowed her to get up, which only meant she was going from laughing and chatting with KC to moping and worrying about Patsy. It was annoying.

He strode over to them and kicked at a stick that sent up sparks into the air. "How's your foot?", he barked.

KC blinked a few times. "What?"

"How's your foot?"

"Don't know. Better I guess."

"Good enough for you to walk?"

"I'd have to ask Ruby or Tai-San."

"It looks fine to me! You should both stop pretending you're hurt. I know you're stalling, because you have this stupid idea, they'll come back, when we all know they're gone. Either the storm got them or they've been snatched like Ram and Patsy. Nobody is coming back!" He hadn't meant to shout at them, but once he'd opened his mouth he couldn't stop the words from tumbling out. Everyone was holding onto this hope that someone was coming, when it was more than clear, nobody was. Bray was dead, Gel was dead, Cal was dead. Amber, Trudy and Ryan gone. Patsy gone. Ram gone. Ellie gone. Darryl gone. Gone, gone, gone. It was enough!

Catching his breath, he looked around, realizing they weren't alone anymore. Jack had just come back from his daily visit to the road. He was staring at Lex with empty eyes and Lex stared back. He needed Jack to understand most of all. Although he'd considered just grabbing Tai-San and leaving everyone else behind, he couldn't do it. Not just because Tai-San would never be okay with it, but because they were his people. He might not even like them most of the time, but they were his people. He'd known Jack, Cloe and KC for so long, it was hard not to grow attached to them. And with Amber and Bray both gone, who was going to lead them if not him?

Jack took a seat at the fire. "He's right." His voice was barely louder than a whisper. "They're not coming back."

Slowly the others joined them too. Lottie and Sammy, who had been taking care of Wylla for Jack climbed down from their treehouse. Lottie handed the baby to Jack, who kissed her lightly on the forehead, sitting her onto his lap. Tai-San, who had been meditating at the edge of the clearing came over too and lastly Ty, Paul and Ruby, who had been out chasing ghosts in the woods, returned as well. They couldn't have been too far away, if they heard his little tirade.

"If KC and Cloe are up for it, we should move on. Find somewhere more stable for us to stay", Jack continued. He looked at Ruby and Paul for a second. "If you guys want to keep looking, I understand, but I have to think of Wylla now."

"Why can't we just go back to the hospital?", Ty asked, but nobody answered him. He didn't know about anyone else, but he could not go back and just live there like everything was normal. He'd walk past Gel and Darryl's room and hear her pleading for her life again, her screams until she went silent. Just thinking of all those empty rooms made him want to drink again.

"I…" Ruby fell quiet again. She stared into the flames, her thoughts far away at this point. "I think… I think it would be alright for KC to move if we stop a few times a day for him to rest his ankle. Wouldn't you agree?" She turned to Tai-San.

"After a good night's rest, Cloe should be able to walk for at least half a day", she said.

Lex looked at the others, but no one objected. Maybe they weren't happy about it, but they all agreed, they had to keep moving forward.

"We're leaving tomorrow then!"

* * *

Wylla had been fussing in the basket on his back, so Jack was now carrying her in his arms, which had calmed her a little. She was at an age now, where she liked to move on her own. Whenever he wasn't watching, she'd crawl off somewhere, she could even manage a few steps on her own and staying still for so long was making her fussy. Maybe it was Ellie's disappearance too, though she had been quite happy throughout their time in the woods. The trees had gotten more sparsely and in front of them laid overgrown hills. He was almost sad to leave the woods behind. Although it had been hard to manage the uneven ground especially for KC, it had also given them some form of protection and mostly he felt like they were leaving their old home and old friends behind for good. He had never wanted to start a new adventure without Ellie by his side or without Amber or Bray, who's judgement he always trusted most. Now Lex was leading their way, but they all knew, he didn't have any clue where they were going.

They were having one of their many rests so KC would not overstrain his ankle. He set Wylla down in the lush grass and watched her as she crawled around, grabbing at the grass, putting it in her mouth. He considered to stop her, but what harm could it do? It was just grass after all.

Ty and Paul came back from their perimeter search. These days they were almost glued at the hip. Jack had realized how hard it must be for Paul to live with so many people, who didn't understand him and with little else to do out here, he had started to learn a few signs himself. It could be useful anyway. Few people knew how to sign, so they could use it as a kind of secret language, which he now realized had already been going on. Only now he was in on the joke. Well, he would be. Right now he only knew how to sign some basic words.

"There's a cabin nestled into the treeline over there", Ty said, when they were close enough. "It's abandoned, but we found an old fireplace and some bones and stuff, so someone's been there recently."

"How recently?" Lex was immediately back in his old role of security chief. He saw dangers everywhere now and Jack didn't know if it was just because Lex was restless and needed something to do, or maybe the Chosen's torture had messed him up more than he would let on.

Paul signed, but Jack didn't understand and was glad for Ty's translation. "We're not sure. Days, maybe weeks. We didn't see any tracks nearby though."

"Yeah? Since when are you any good at tracking?", Lex challenged.

Ty flushed immediately, all his confidence draining by the smallest confrontation. He had gotten used to speaking in front of them without stammering but Lex was something else. Jack knew all too well. Paul on the other hand just met Lex's eyes without flinching.

This time Cloe translated for him. "He says, he's been living in the wilderness far longer than you have."

"I do have more confidence in Paul's abilities than yours", Ruby said, meeting Lex's glare with a smile. "Maybe we should stay in that cabin. At least for the night. It would be nice to have a roof over our head again."

"We still have hours of daylight left", Lex said. "Maybe we could even get over those hills."

The first statement was definitely true. Jack didn't suppose it was much later than maybe an hour or two after noon, but he was not as confident in the hills. One would have to run to the top and get a better look, but that would take an hour at least. Staying here wouldn't be so bad. They had no destination anyway and a small silly part of him still believed, Ellie would return and try to catch up to them. If only he knew where she had gone and if she was okay. The only reason he kept following Lex was Wylla. She needed a stable home and he was solely responsible for her now. It had taken him a long time to get used to having a child, sometimes he still doubted his decisions and if he was cut out for this, but then he remembered there was no guide to it and as long as he kept her safe and fed and loved her, he couldn't really do anything wrong, could he?

"What's the rush?", Sammy asked. "We're not going anywhere anyway."

"We're looking for a new city", Lex said.

"Don't think there's a city behind those hills. Probably more hills."

"You don't know that."

"You don't either."

Rolling his eyes, Jack decided to speak up. "I think we should stay. At least for a night." Anything was better than to listen to those two squabble. These days Lex picked fights with everyone. Jack wasn't even sure the tribe would stay together for much longer. Ty and Paul were always running off, scouting ahead or clearing a perimeter, it wouldn't surprise him if they decided they were better off on their own anyway. If it came to splitting up, he would probably stay with Ruby. Although they had both been stuck in their head for most of their journey with Ram and Ellie going missing and all, he still felt he had the strongest friendship with her. At first there had been no more mall and now it looked there were no more Mall Rats either.

"Hey, look!" KC was pointing up the hill and as soon as he said it, they could hear it. Hooves thundering.A group of about ten people on horses was rushing towards them.

Quickly he scooped up Wylla and ran towards the woods, everyone else did the same. Lex muttered something about running away being beneath him, but he didn't try to stay behind and face them either.

Where this the people that had taken Ram? Had they finally found them? And what now? They couldn't fight them; they were lucky if they could even run or hide from them. Lottie and Sammy rushed past him and disappeared off the trail shortly after. Behind him, he heard KC panting. The poor guy was still walking on crutches and there was no way he could outrun a herd of horses.

"Stop running!" A voice bellowed behind them. Way too close, but Jack didn't dare look behind him. Small branches were whipping in his face and Wylla was getting heavier with every step. The sudden movement had upset her and she was loudly wailing now, there was no way he could hide with her. She'd draw everyone to them.

A little to his left a horse broke through the thicket and snaked through the trees at high speed. They did it with such an ease, they must've trained for this. Another horse followed and then he saw Lottie and Sammy again, being driven towards him by a third rider. Eventually there were horses everywhere and nowhere to run.

"Shhh, Wylla", he whispered. "It's okay. It's okay. Shhh." He stroked her soft, red hair and her cries subsided slowly. Next to him, he felt Ruby pressing into his shoulder, catching her breath. All the others were here as well. Paul and Lex ready to fight, which was just ridiculous. Where they going to punch a horse? Not to mention that all of the riders were armed in some way.

One girl, a rather short and scrawny looking kid, led her horse in a circle around them, scrutinizing them. At her hip she was carrying a short sword – where on earth had she gotten that? – and Jack noticed the blue tribal marking on her neck, but couldn't see what it was. Not that he would know the tribe. He saw the same blue tribal on various body parts of the other riders as well. He also noticed, they were all wearing a brown cloth. The girl had hers tied to the reins of her horse.

"Geez, next time I tell you to stop, maybe listen?", she asked irritated.

Lex being Lex, he already stepped forward, but lost a bit of his composure, when he came face to face with the black horse. "Who are you?"

She looked down at him, her lips curling into an unamused smile. "I was going to ask you the same thing."

"Well, I asked first."

A few of the riders snorted or laughed, but the girl just kept looking at Lex, apparently she didn't deign to answer that childish retort. When it became obvious that neither her nor Lex were willing to give up any information, he stepped forward. They were at the mercy of these riders now and he didn't want to put Wylla in any risk, maybe they could be reasoned with.

"We mean no trouble", he said. Her dark eyes were cold as she took him in, but he didn't want to back down. "We're Mall Rats. We just…"

"We're looking for some friends", Ruby interrupted. "They were taken."

The girl exchanged a glance with the rider behind her, but when she looked back at them, her face was stone again. She led her horse around them again, when she stopped in front of Jack, he clearly saw her eyes linger on the pentagram on his hand.

"Normally we don't care about people passing through, but when it's such a big group as yours, it's better to investigate. We know all the tribes that live around here and you're not one of them."

"No, we're just looking for our friends" Ruby went on. "Have you seen them?"

"Well, I suppose all Mall Rats wear that star on the back of their hand?"

"Zelda…" One of the girls behind her had spoken and the leader clearly didn't like it. Her long, brown hair flew through the air, when she turned around quickly. The blonde didn't seem impressed by her glare though. "He's got a baby for God's sake. And that guy is hurt. They are no threat to us at all."

"And I'm in charge so that's for me to decide, Billie." She said the name with such venom, Jack thought this wasn't the first time, the two of them had clashed.

As he looked around now he realized that except for Zelda, everyone was carrying wide-range weapons, bows, crossbows and a few rifles. Zelda was carrying a bow as well, but her sword was the only weapon that was truly designated for combat, the others looked more like hunters. They could still kill them easily, though, so that didn't comfort Jack much. While Zelda's attention was elsewhere, he slowly grabbed Ruby's hand and drew her backwards with him. With that temper, who knew what she would get up to and he didn't want to be close enough for that sword to reach.

Lex didn't seem intimidated by the weapons or the leader's bad temper. "So have you seen any of our friends?", he asked.

"You should come back with us", Zelda said. The words came over her lips easy enough, but she didn't seem very happy with this suggestion.

"Why's that?", Lex asked.

"We're friendly", Ruby said. "We won't get in your way."

"No." She rolled her eyes. "I mean we took some of your people in a few days ago."

Took them in? What did that mean? Took in, snatched up, could mean the same thing. The others seemed to think the same thing, judging by the sudden tension in the air. Ruby pushed him further backwards and stepped in front of him. Part of him was embarrassed to have Ruby defend him, but he knew this was not a time to stroke his ego, but to keep Wylla alive and safe.

"What did you do with them?", Ruby snarled.

With a swift motion Zelda pulled the sword out of its scabbard and pointed it at Ruby, the point only stopping a few inches away from her face. "Calm down, or I'll ruin that pretty face of yours."

"I'm not afraid of that toothpick." She immediately pointed the sword at Lex, but this time she let the edge rest against his cheek.

The blonde girl, Billie, urged her horse forward and forced Zelda's arm down. "Don't!" There was more to it than that, something she didn't say, but apparently Zelda did understand. She let out a deep breath and sheathed her sword again.

"We took them in", Billie said. "They showed up at the park and we would be happy to take you back with us so you can be reunited."

Were they telling the truth or was this some sort of ploy to get them to follow quietly? There was nothing he wanted more than to get Ellie back, but she would never forgive him if he blindly went into a trap like that and risked Wylla's life. When he looked at his friends, he could see the same struggle going on in their heads.

"Yeah right", Lex said, his voice quivering. He cleared his throat and went on with a stronger voice. "Just so you can make us slaves or whatever when we get there. I'm not buying it for one second."

"But Lex, what if they're telling the truth?", Cloe said. She turned to Tai-San. "What do you think?"

"I don't know, Cloe. It could be a trap."

Zelda sighed. "It's not a trap. I realize we haven't made a good first impression. I'm horrible with strangers."

"Then why put you on the welcoming committee?", KC asked sarcastically.

"We're a hunting party. Actually…" She turned around to her tribe and addressed a boy with pitch-black hair. "Lias, you should take the others out for the hunt. Billie and I will take them back to the park." He nodded courtly, then most of the riders disappeared.

Well, he hadn't expected that. Why would she send most of her people away and make herself more vulnerable? They were both still armed, of course, but they were horribly outnumbered now. Maybe it was only a ruse and the others were staying close by to intervene if they tried anything.

With the same swiftness she had displayed with her sword, Zelda hopped off her horse and took it by the reins. It was more clear now how short she actually was, only reaching up to Lex's chin. Why were short people always so mean? Lex, Ebony, this girl… There must've been something in their genetics.

"You. Get on the horse", she said, pointing at KC on his crutches. Of course the green-haired boy didn't move at all. "We're faster that way and I'd like to be back before dark. Anyone else need a ride?"

Billie dismounted her horse too, following her leader's example. She had long, bright blonde hair pulled into a ponytail, clear blue eyes and looked almost ghostly pale in comparison to Zelda's warm brown skin. She had the brown cloth tied into her ponytail and bore the same blue tribal marking on her left upper arm. Now that he could get a closer look at it, he saw what looked like an A half-submerged in water.

"What tribe are you with?", he asked.

Billie smiled. "You really aren't from around here. We're Aquatics, we live in the old amusement park down by the sea."

"Which is where we're going now. So get on that damn horse, boy!"

KC gritted his teeth, but eventually followed her order. Ruby helped him on the horse, to make sure he didn't injure his ankle in anyway and then he sat awkwardly on top of the horse.

"Don't touch the reins", Zelda said. "Hold onto the saddle if you must." She turned the horse around and led it out of the woods, Billie followed. For a moment the Mall Rats hung back, but with KC being led away they had no other choice but to follow.

* * *

Lex touched his fingers to his cheek, where he had felt the sharp, cool metal moments before. He'd remembered the pain of knives cutting his flesh, reopening old wounds. Remembered soaring hot metal pressed into his neck that made him scream until his throat was sore. The little bitch hadn't even nicked his skin, but he could still feel the edge of the sword there.

He was walking in the back, trying to get his emotions under control again and displaying how dismayed he was with the turn of events. He didn't trust those horse people for one second. Just because she had sent away most of her riders, didn't mean they weren't up to something.

Tai-San fell back from the group until she fell into step next to him. Her blue eyes rested on him for a while, which made his skin crawl again and not in the usual good way. He felt like she could see right through him, could see the ghosts of his captivity. "Are you alright?", she asked, all soft eyes and low voice. He hated it.

"Course! Why wouldn't I be?"

"I saw you, when she put that sword against your face. You didn't look okay then."

"You imagined it!"

She reached out and brushed her fingers over his cheek, but he moved away from the touch. "You're not hurt."

"Mhm." For once he actually wanted her to go away. She couldn't remember him. Couldn't remember all the things he'd done for her, like sneaking into the occupied Mall just to be with her. Proposing to her because he couldn't imagine life without her. Risking his friendship with Alice, because his feelings for her were too strong. And she couldn't remember him fighting. Fighting the Locos, Tribe Circus, the Chosen, the Technos, Anarchists and Chosen again… All these things that made him him, she didn't know.

"Lex, you can talk to me. Isn't that what you want? To get to know each other again? We can only do that if you talk to me."

"About what? We talk all the time", he said dismissively.

"About what happened to you. You don't have to act like it doesn't affect you. Nobody expects you to be okay."

"But I am!"

She looked at him again with these sad eyes. "Do you really want me to prove you wrong?"

"How would you even do that?"

"Lex, you have nightmares every night. We all pretend we don't hear you thrashing and screaming. You flinch away whenever someone touches you unexpectedly. Whenever Gel is mentioned you change the subject. Your constant desire to get as far away from the city as you can. And just now when you were faced with that blade… You went rigid with fear." She reached for his hand and this time he allowed the touch. Her hand was small and warm in his. It felt so familiar, his heart ached with the knowledge that it was the first time they held hands, she could remember. "It's okay not to be okay."

He still didn't want to talk. Part of him hated how much she had noticed; another part was delighted she was apparently paying so much attention to him. Even if he did want to talk about the torture, he didn't know how. Especially not with her. He'd endured all of that for her, he'd only been subjected to all of that because of her. And if he did talk to her about it, he would have to put that on her and she felt guilty enough already.

When he made no attempt to talk to her, Lex thought she'd pull her hand away, but she didn't and she didn't push him any further. It calmed him, knowing that she was by his side right now. Maybe not in the way he had wished for, but she was here and alive and maybe that was all that counted.

"How much further?" He heard Sammy ask from somewhere in the front. The sun had set and dusk was setting in, making it hard to see the others in front of them. It was best if they caught up to the others.

When they did, Jack said: "Do you hear the waves? We're at the ocean again."

Now that he pointed it out, he could hear it too. He looked back at the hills behind them, maybe they hadn't seen it because it was dark already. Lex squinted trying to see what was in front of them, but he could barely make out the two girls with their horses.

"We're almost there", Billie shouted back.

A few glints of light appeared in a distance in front of them, they drifted in the air eerily. The closer they got, the more lights became visible and then he saw the shadows of a large fence and a gate. Over the gate was a sign, but it was too dark to read. Not that he could read it anyway. There was a lantern that cast a warm glow onto the huge metal gate, it was locked. Great. They were hungry and tired and the place was locked. But then out of the shadows stepped a young man. He took one look at Zelda and Billie and opened the gate.

"Back already?", he asked.

"More Mall Rats", Zelda said, of course she still sounded annoyed. Whatever her problem was, Lex didn't like her one bit. "Where's everyone?"

The guy shrugged. "I think most of them might still be at Little Dolphins."

Zelda cast one look at Billie and the blonde girl immediately mounted her horse and took off at a quick pace. The guy closed the gate behind them, locked it and went back into what might have once been a ticket shop.

"We'll have to wait here for a moment. The restaurant isn't far, so it shouldn't take long", Zelda explained, which explained nothing at all. There were barely any lights around, so all Lex could see where dark shadows from various buildings. Somewhere in the distance he thought he saw a Ferris wheel. "We have a vetting process in place for newcomers, but since you're Mall Rats I suppose they'll cut you some slack."

"What's that supposed to mean?" KC asked, as Cloe and Ruby helped him off the horse and gave him back his crutches.

"It means that the Council seems to like your kind."

"What council?" Ty asked.

"The Council. Listen, they'll explain all of this to you way better than I can… Oh and here they come." She turned towards four figures hurrying towards them. The smallest, so small it could only be a child, rushed forward into the light. Brady grinned at them perfectly happy, even more so when Sammy, Lottie and Ty took turns hugging her. Following behind were Ryan, Trudy and… Jay? The Ex-Techno had grown out his beard slightly, dark roots were appearing under his bleached hair and he was clad mostly in black and blue, except for a red cloth tied around his arm. On his cheek was the same blue tribal marking Billie and Zelda were wearing, only his was surrounded by two blue circles.

"What are you guys doing here?", Trudy asked, surprised but happy.

"We could ask you the same thing", Jack said. He didn't object, when Trudy picked the sleeping Wylla out of her basket, instead he and Ruby stepped forward to get a better look at Jay. "You ended up here, huh?"

Lex was stunned as well. He had not expected to see Ryan and the others again so soon and especially not thought to see Jay ever again. He wasn't exactly happy about it, he'd never cared much about the guy, but it was good to know someone in this tribe was on their side. "You're the leader here?", he asked, giving Ryan a friendly slap on the shoulder as he approached.

"Co-leader. Temporarily", Jay said. "It's a long story and I believe you are all tired. Ryan and Trudy could show you to your accommodations and we'll talk tomorrow."

"Tomorrow? Seriously?" He had a million question about this place and didn't want to wait so long.

Jay's eyes wandered over them, lingered on the faces he didn't know yet like Ty and Tai-San and finally rested on Cloe. He looked back at Lex. "I'm sorry, but now is not a good time. Zelda," He turned to the girl and her horse, looking a bit forlorn on the side lines. "Where's the rest of your group?"

"I put Lias in charge, they're hunting."

"Good. Tomorrow you change to red." She nodded, mounted her horse and rode off.

Jay gave them an awkward wave and disappeared into the darkness as well. What an ass. Leadership clearly wasn't doing anything good for his character.

"Where's the rest?", Ryan asked. "Patsy, Ellie…"

"Gone", Lex said. "We haven't seen them since the storm."

Trudy gasped and covered her mouth with her hand, ever the eccentric. Still holding Wylla, she stroked her head. "Poor thing."

"Looks like we have a lot to catch up on", Ryan said. "I guess, it's best we show you to the houses."

No one argued with that. Houses sounded like heaven right now, maybe there were even real beds. And food, he was starving.


	4. Episode 4: But Life Goes On

**Thank you guys for your reviews, I'm always happy to hear what you think :) This one is rather short, but I hope you'll like it anyway**

* * *

 **Episode 4 – But Life Goes On…**

 _Two weeks earlier_

Growling he threw the damp branch across the meadow. It was no use. Everything around them was completely wet, none of it would catch a spark anytime soon. Bright laughter made him turn around and he spotted Brady hiding behind a tree only a few feet away. It had been a while since he'd heard her laughing. Nothing about this journey was fun. For the most part Amber just sat around, not saying a word for hours on end, but at times she'd go into a rage and scream her lungs out over the injustice of losing Little Bray. It scared him and he was a grown man, how Brady could stand it, he didn't know. Besides, Amber wasn't the only one, who had loved the boy. Brady had been close to her little cousin and still had trouble comprehending he wasn't coming back.

Ryan opened his arms and the girl rushed to him, throwing herself at him. Her skinny little arms snaked around his neck and squeezed tight, but Ryan only had to tickle her a little and she let go again.

"It's not very nice to spy on people, Brady", he said.

She picked at one of her braids, the smile slowly fading from her face. "I wasn't spying."

"Then what were you doing?"

"Hiding."

He looked past her to the little cabin nestled into the treeline, where they had spent the last couple of days. Was Amber having a fit again? No, he would've heard.

"Amber is crying", Brady said. "Nothing Mummy does, makes her stop. Is she sad like Sammy was?"

He patted the grass next to him and she sat down, pulling her knees to her chest. Life had not been good to her. She was only 6 years old and she'd already been through so much. Kidnapped twice and all the battles and losses, she'd had to witness. Ryan admired how bravely the little girl took on this hard world.

"Maybe. It's very hard to lose someone you love so much and Amber loved Bray with all her heart."

"Which one?"

"Both of them. I think, Amber finds it hard to picture her life without them right now. She doesn't know how to go on. Kind of like Sammy did when he tried to hurt himself", he said slowly. This wasn't a discussion he wanted to have with Brady, but Trudy had long made it a point not to lie to her and Ryan respected that. Maybe it was better if she faced reality from the beginning, then she wouldn't be disappointed if whatever story, they had made up to protect her, failed to hold up.

"Is she going to be sad forever now?"

"I don't know." Could you recover from losing your child and your soulmate at the same time? Amber was strong, but even she could only take so much.

"I'm happy you're here, Ryan. Mummy is so busy with Amber, maybe she wouldn't notice if someone would come and take me again. Not until it is too late."

Smiling, he put and arm around her. "Nobody is going to take you, Brady. The Chosen are gone for real this time." He would make sure nobody touched a single hair on her body ever again. When he had gotten this protective of her, he couldn't say. It had probably been way before he had realised his feelings for Trudy. It was impossible not to love Brady, when she loved everybody in the tribe so freely and wholeheartedly. "I don't think, we'll have a fire today, so maybe you and I can go into the woods and look for mushrooms?"

Brady made a face. "I don't like mushrooms. They are yucky!"

"Well, it's either mushrooms or earthworms."

"Ewww!"

* * *

When her tears had dried out, she just laid with her head in Trudy's lap and stared at the marks in the wood panel across from her. In her dream it had been so real. She had felt his little fingers on her cheeks, one almost poking her eye. His laughter, a bit too loud at this close proximity, had rung in her ears and when she had showered him in kisses, happy to see him alive and well, she could feel his soft skin beneath her lips and breathe in his unique scent. And then she had woken up in this cabin and she was alone. Her son ripped from her arms once again. It was not right that she should be here, when he was not. That she would witness another sun rising after a terrible storm, while he would never see sunshine again.

She barely felt Trudy rubbing her back soothingly, mumbling the same words over and over. _You're not alone._ It was a lie. She was alone in this pain. How could Trudy understand, when her own daughter was just outside this cabin playing tag with Ryan? Bray would understand, but he had been taken from her as well. He had come back from the dead just so she could mourn him all over again. What even was the point of that? Maybe everything would've been better, if he had stayed dead. She had come to terms with it back then, now… Now she couldn't remember, how she had ever managed to be okay with that.

"I think you should get up now, Amber." She ignored Trudy. Why should she get up? She couldn't think of a single reason, why she shouldn't just lie here and let the world forget about her. There was no one who needed her, who was relying on her. No one.

Trudy gently pushed her, but Amber just curled up on the sleeping back instead. "I'm serious", Trudy said. "You can't just lie here, it's not healthy."

"I don't care."

"You could check the snares. You've always been better at setting them up than me." What did she care about snares? It didn't matter to her if they had roots and worms for dinner or hare, she barely ate any of the stuff anyway. With a sigh Trudy stood up and strode towards the door. "Fine, don't get up. I'll be outside with Ryan and Brady if you need me."

* * *

Brady and he had come back with a few mushrooms. There were more, but Ryan wasn't a hundred percent sure they were edible and he was rather safe than sorry. Even if they didn't kill them, he'd rather not lie in the cabin clutching his stomach in pain for the next few days.

Brady was now picking flowers in the meadow, while he tried and failed again at starting a fire. When Trudy left the cabin and joined him, he was happy to have an excuse to leave the fire for now. He was also happy to have a moment alone with her. They rarely had moments like these, if it wasn't Amber needing Trudy, it was Brady and Ryan understood that, but it didn't mean he liked it. When Trudy went into hiding and he didn't know where she was and what was happening to her, he had sworn himself to tell her how he felt, but somehow it had never been the right time. Amber needed her more now.

"How is she doing?", he asked, when Trudy sat down next to him.

She shrugged, a sigh escaping her lips. "I honestly don't know. Back when the Technos invaded and we believed Bray to be dead, it wasn't even half as bad as this. She had her baby to look after then."

"Yeah…" He didn't know what to say, nothing he could say would be a comfort to Amber or would help Trudy. If it weren't for Brady, he would feel incredibly useless on their little trip.

Trudy bumped her shoulder against his. "I'm glad you're here. At least I don't have to worry about Brady." A small smile tugged at her lips, her eyes soft and warm. His heart swelled and the need to kiss her right then and there became almost unbearable. "And it's nice to have someone to talk to. If it was just Amber, Brady and me, I'd probably gone insane by now."

"Brady said the same thing earlier", he said. "I'm happy to be here for both of you. And Amber of course."

She started picking at the mushrooms they had gathered, probably making sure they were all edible. "Couldn't get a fire started, I bet. We should've stored some firewood inside the cabin."

"It's not so bad. It'll dry in a couple of days and it's not so cold that we need a fire", he said, although he sure liked having a warm fire to sit at and to cook on.

"Well, I prefer cooked mushrooms to raw ones or a nice hare stew, though I doubt we caught anything in the snares during the storm. I'm glad that's over."

He nodded. "We're lucky we had the cabin; imagine being outside during that."

"Do you think we should stay here? I think Brady likes it here, but Amber is just lying around, maybe moving around would be good for her."

"I don't know." The cabin was great, it would be hard to find a spot like this one and what was the point in going further anyway? They were supposed to head back to the city and join the Mall Rats again, once Amber felt a bit better. However, if Trudy decided moving about was better for Amber's recovery he wouldn't argue with that. "We should do what's best for Amber, I guess."

A strand of her purple hair fell into her face as Trudy nodded and Ryan reached out to brush it away. She kept it longer now, it reached just past her shoulders and it made her look younger, more innocent. Her cheek was warm against the back of his hand and he couldn't help but let it linger for a moment. How he longed to touch her like this… She didn't pull away, but leaned into the touch instead. It was a surprise to Ryan. He'd known she liked him well enough as a friend, but everything beyond that had been a guessing game. Maybe he hadn't told her yet, because he was too afraid of her rejection, now that he had built up to this moment for so long.

"Trudy, I…", he started, but the words failed him. He had never been a big talker and none of the words in his head seemed to be able to carry his message.

He could feel the heat rushing to her cheeks, but then she took his hand in her own and he was more concerned with how soft her hands were. She probably didn't like how big and rough his were. He thought of Jay and Bray, the two people he'd known she had had feelings for and compared himself to them, only to come up short in every way. He couldn't speak eloquently like them or inspire people with his ideas. He didn't have plans for the future of the world, he only had plans for his own future. There was nothing heroic about him and she probably loved heroes and knights just as much as Brady. Maybe he had misread the signs and she wasn't reciprocating at all. She was just trying to let him down gently.

"I know", she said softly. "I've been wondering when you'd tell me. Actually I'm glad it took you so long, at least now I know how to answer you."

"You do?" He hated how insecure he sounded, but she was still holding his hand. That was a good sign, right? On the other hand, she had known how he felt and not made a move herself, so maybe she didn't feel the same way?

"You've been a great friend to me, Ryan, and Brady adores you. There are times I look at you and…" She bowed her head, but he could still see the blush on her face. "And it makes me feel something, makes me think of you differently." Her hand squeezed his lightly. "I like this."

All those worries seemed to lift off his shoulders at the moment. She was telling him she felt the same way right now, wasn't she? The girl he loved was holding his hand and telling him she liked him. He had long forgotten how elevating that feeling was. If he could, he would've hugged the world.

"I like this too."

When she looked up at him, she was the most beautiful girl in the whole world. "Just… I'm not sure about anything right now, Ryan. I want to give this a chance, but for Brady's sake I'd like to keep it just between the two of us. For now at least. She'd be so disappointed if it didn't work out in the end."

"Oh." Did she not expect it to? Was she only interested now, because there were no other men around and he was quite literally her only choice? She wouldn't do that, would she?

She raised her hand to his cheek letting her fingers trace the line of his jaw. Her touch was light as a feather, barely even there, but it was enough to erase his doubts. For the moment. Her dark eyes looked past him to where Brady was playing in the meadow, then focused on him again. "She's not looking right now."

He could feel her hot breath on his lips as she spoke, wondering when she had gotten close enough for that to be possible. And then he could feel her soft lips on his. She was actually kissing him. He was kissing Trudy. He'd waited for this so long that now that it was happening, he was completely amazed by it. It took him a few seconds to kiss her back. All he wanted was to hold her and kiss her like his life depended on it, but with Brady so nearby that was impossible, instead he had to try and convey how much it meant to him with this chaste little kiss.

Neither of them could stop smiling as they parted and Ryan was about to sneak another kiss, when he saw Brady run towards them. Trudy moved so their joined hands were hidden behind her legs. Maybe sneaking around could be fun. He could get used to the excitement of it all.


	5. Episode 5: Life Takes and Life Gives

**Episode 5 – Life Takes and Life Gives**

Ryan and Trudy had decided that the cabin wasn't sufficient for the long term, which made no sense to Amber, but on the other hand she didn't really care. It meant nothing to her if she was stumbling after them through the wilderness or watching them cook and play with Brady in the cabin. Maybe she even preferred the walking. That way she had other things to think about than Junior and Bray. In the woods that had been the case at least, but for hours they had been walking through meadows and hills. There wasn't much variety in that.

A bird was screeching as it flew over the cloudy sky above them. Amber didn't pay much attention to it, but Ryan seemed fascinated. "You hear that, Brady? That's a sea gull."

The little girl craned her neck to spot the bird over them. "I know gulls. They live at the beach."

"Exactly. That means we're close to the sea again. Maybe we can catch some fish."

"Yay, fish!"

Brady started running excitedly, taking the lead of their little group. Trudy didn't seem to mind as long as she could see her. Seeing all that energy made Amber smile for a second, until she remembered that Junior would usually trail after her, a bit less confident on his short legs, shouting for her to wait up. It made her want to scream.

When Brady reached the top of the hill, she stopped for a moment, then turned around and waved her arms at them. She could probably see the sea from up there.

"Want me to run up there?", Ryan asked. She noticed how his hand lingered on the small of Trudy's back for a moment, but thought nothing of it. They had always been close friends.

"No, she can practice patience once in a while." Trudy smiled, but picked up her pace nonetheless.

At first Ryan kept pace with her, but eventually he let himself fall behind. Since they left the city, he hadn't said much to her, which Amber appreciated. She'd appreciate it even more if neither of them spoke to her and just let her be, but that was not going to happen.

"Should we slow down?", he asked, when he fell into step with her. "Can you keep up?"

She nodded. It wasn't that she couldn't keep up, she just didn't want to. She didn't want to be sucked into their meaningless chatter, couldn't understand how they were just fine, while she was falling apart a bit more every day. It wasn't fair, that they were fine. It just wasn't. "Just leave me alone, Ryan."

"I… it's not a good idea to push everyone away, Amber."

"How would you know?" He never lost anybody like she had. When Salene died, they hadn't been together anymore and even Bray's death wasn't hitting her as hard as Junior's. She was his mother, she had to protect him and she failed him.

"You're not the only one, who's lost someone."

"Have you ever lost the two people you love most at the same time? You don't have a child, you don't know what it's like, so stop pretending like you do", she snapped. "Don't talk to me again!"

He stared at her, but Amber avoided his eyes. Anger was boiling inside her, somewhere she knew she wasn't mad a Ryan, but he was the only outlet she had right now. How could he compare the loss of friends to this? They had died in a fire, cried in agony probably and Junior had hoped for her to save them, but she had been more concerned with Lex and Gel. And she hadn't even been able to rescue them. Lex was alive now, but that was pure luck and not her doing.

Trudy frowned at them, when they reached the hilltop, but didn't comment on their spat which she was sure to have heard. Instead she pointed down the hill. Sure enough, you could see the sea from up here, but down there nestled at the shore was a huge amusement park. At first glance it looked abandoned, the Ferris wheel standing still, the rollercoaster tracks twisting through it like giant snakes, but there was movement down there and a huge area had been cleared, probably for farming. There were even boats floating on the waves.

"What is that, Mummy?", Brady asked.

"It's an amusement park, honey. Before the Virus, people would go there and have fun. It's like a huge playground", Trudy said, clearly not knowing how to explain the concept of an amusement park to someone who didn't know what rollercoasters and Ferris Wheels were.

"Cool! Can we go?"

"There are people living there", Ryan said, squinting as if he could see them better that way. "We don't know if they're friendly or not."

"But they live on a playground", Brady argued. "Bad people don't live on playgrounds."

"It's better to be careful."

And how were they going to do that? If they wanted to stay safe they should just ignore the place and keep walking along the hills. As soon as they descended, people at the park would notice them.

"We should check it out", Ryan said. "Maybe I should go in alone, then get you later."

"I want to go!" Brady tugged at her mother's hand.

Amber sighed. "Why don't we all go?" If there was any danger down there, she didn't care anyway. She had no responsibilities anymore. If Trudy didn't want to risk it, that was okay, but she doubted that Trudy would like to stay behind. "Standing here and talking about it, will get us nowhere."

"Maybe we should stay up here and observe them", Trudy suggested.

"You think, they haven't seen us standing up here like statues?", Amber asked. "If we wait here and they are bad news, they'll come up here in the night and attack."

Trudy looked at Ryan for an opinion, but he only shrugged his shoulders. There really was no reason to stay up here and discuss this, if they were going down there anyway. What other choice did they really have?

"Alright, let's go", Trudy said.

Brady pumped her fist into the air, cheering, but the older Mall Rats weren't half as excited as her. Now with a goal in mind, Amber strode down the hill. For a moment her mind could fixate on something else than everything she had lost. Her mind was spinning with questions about this tribe.

"Don't worry", she heard Ryan whisper to Trudy. "If it comes to a fight, I'll protect you and Brady, I promise."

The trek down the hill and across the open field didn't take nearly as long as Amber had imagined. She was still unsure what to say, when the gate towered in front of them. The sign over it had been repainted and read AQUATICS in big blue letters. The whole park was surrounded by a high fence and behind it, she could see people patrolling. The gate was open, but two armed guards were already waiting for them. At the sight of the spears, Brady immediately turned around to hide behind Trudy.

One of the guards stepped forward. "If you're coming for the market, it's not for another five days."

"Market?" Amber looked at him confused. Out of anything, she had not expected that, how could he mistake them for traders, if they had nothing more than the clothes on their backs.

"Never mind." He looked over his shoulder, anticipating someone. A few people were walking in the paths behind him, but everyone seemed to be busy and have somewhere to be. She saw people of all ages, even some dogs. Not dangerous at all. "Someone will be here to greet you shortly."

Someone in charge that had to mean, which clearly wasn't either of them. Amber turned around to see what the others thought of this. Trudy was trying to keep a straight face, but Amber saw how her eyes roamed over the guards and everything behind them. Ryan bent down to pick up Brady, to calm her or to be able to run away with her as quickly as possible, Amber didn't know. Smart move though.

When she turned back to the guards, she saw two people approach. The boy was tall with deep blue hair, the girl was almost the same height, her blonde hair fell in tight small curls about her face, while part of it was put up, making her look taller still. As they came nearer, Trudy stepped forwards, looking at them incredulously. It was only then, Amber saw the familiarity in the long thin nose, blue eyes, spiky blue hair. He smiled a bit awkwardly, when he recognized them.

"Luke?", Trudy breathed, then rushed forward and hugged him. Luke clearly hadn't expected that, stumbling backwards and patting her back.

"It's good to see you, too. You're a long way from home."

His glance rested on Ryan, who was all but happy to see the Ex-Chosen. Ryan hadn't been around to see Luke deflecting and had only heard the stories. To him, he must still be the enemy. For herself, it took all she had, not to think about the Chosen right now. He had nothing to do with Bray and Junior's deaths.

"You are friends of Luke's?", the girl next to him asked. Her voice sounded familiar, but Amber couldn't place it.

"They're Mall Rats. This is Trudy", Luke said, touching Trudy's shoulder lightly. "Ryan. Trudy's daughter Brady and Amber."

At the mention of her name, the girl's head whipped around to look at Amber. Was it because she'd heard about her or did she object to people in general with the name Amber? When the girl came towards her, Amber instinctively took a step back before she could invade her personal space.

"What are you doing?", she asked, her voice cold.

The girl didn't answer just study her face. It made her uneasy, but even more so she wondered, where she knew her from.

"Amber?", the girl whispered and the way she said her name brought back long forgotten memories. Could it be?

She tried to picture her face without the heavy eye-makeup, with shorter and straight hair. The blue-greenish eyes were the same, the way her lips curled into a smile was still the same. It couldn't be. It was just not possible.

Amber felt tears stinging her eyes. Why was life cruel like that? Why would it take away her son and Bray only to give her back someone she'd never thought to see again. She fell forwards, but was enveloped in a big hug immediately.

"Hey, it's okay. I can't believe you're really here", her sister whispered. Neither could she. She was full on sobbing now, not caring that Luke and the guards could see. She was holding her sister right now. Her real, actual, older sister, who she hadn't seen since the Virus. Soothingly Solaris rubbed her back. "Shh…Calm down. That's no way to say hello to your sister."

Amber stepped away, bringing some space between them. With the back of her hand she wiped away the tears, but she could see, Solaris was crying as well. "Sol… I missed you so much", she managed to say in between sobs.

"Wait a minute." Trudy's voice cut in. "Your sister? You never mentioned a sister, Amber."

"No… I… I thought I'd never see her again. There was no point."

"Thanks", Solaris said sarcastically. "But how on earth are you here?"

"It's a long story."

"I bet." Solaris laughed and guided her inside. Some of the Aquatics had gathered around them now, but Amber had no eyes for them. She just wanted to hold her sister and never let her go again. Unbelievable… Solaris had gone away to work as a nurse during the Virus, but soon all contact had been lost and Amber had no way of knowing what had happened to her. She had always hoped that she was alive, but she hadn't known for sure. It had taken her a while to accept, but then the Mall Rats happened and she had bigger things to worry about. "Wait a minute. If you're Mall Rats, does that mean you're Jay's Amber?"

"Jay?"

"Whenever he talks about his time with the Mall Rats, he paints you in vivid colours. You're quite something, I hear."

"You mean, Jay ended up here?" Since he had left, Amber hadn't thought about him much. After their breakup they had still been friends, kind of, but she had been happy to see him go. With him gone things with her Bray and Junior had been a lot less complicated and now he was here? Luke was here. Jay was here and even Solaris was here. It all became too much for her at that point. She saw black at the edges of her vision, then everything went black.

* * *

When they had seen the amusement park, Ryan had hoped for a place to stay, maybe get some food, but this… It was ridiculous. Luke and Solaris had helped them carry Amber through the park to a restaurant called Little Dolphins. People in the tribe threw them weird looks, but nobody stopped them. They passed old carousels, boarded up souvenir shops, bumper cars. It was all very surreal.

The restaurant was empty, so they pushed a few chairs together for Amber to lie on until she woke up. Solaris, Amber's sister, crouched next to her, stroking her cheek, smiling all the same. Now that he knew who she was, he could see some similarities, for instance they had the same eyes.

"I didn't know the news about Jay would upset her so much", Solaris murmured. "Do you think it's a good idea if I send for him?"

"It's not Jay. Amber's been through a lot lately", Trudy said. She hesitated, but eventually went on. "She lost her son and her boyfriend in a fire. She hasn't been herself since." He wasn't sure if it was their place to tell, he definitely didn't feel right talking about Amber as if she wasn't there. Maybe she could even hear them.

"I'd like to see Jay, if that's possible", he said instead. In the short time they had spent together, he had grown quite fond of him and had been sad to see him go. It would be great to see him again.

Luke who had kept his distance, was by the door immediately. "I'll go find him." And then he was out of the door. Good. Although Ryan had heard good things about Luke, he wasn't going to forget that he had been in support of him never seeing his child, had helped brainwash Salene.

Solaris pulled a chair over and sat down next to Amber, they did the same. Brady wandered off, inspecting the restaurant, but since Solaris didn't object to it, Ryan decided not to worry about her.

"When was that?", Solaris asked. "I'm an aunt."

"Was", Trudy said softly. "Not long ago, maybe a couple of weeks. We left the city and our tribe behind, because I thought it might help her. I think today was the first time, she was a bit herself again."

"How old was he? Her son?"

"Three."

Solaris took Amber's hand and squeezed it, sadness washing over her delicate features. For a moment they sat in silence. Ryan wanted to take Trudy's hand too, but stopped himself. Now was not the time for that.

After a while Trudy spoke up. "So, are you the leader here?"

She shook her head, the tight curls jumping around her. "Right now we don't have a leader. Cherri died recently and we haven't had the time for a new vote. Until then Jay and I have been sharing the responsibilities."

"I'm sorry." Both Ryan and Trudy spoke at the same time.

"It's life now. People die and somehow you have to keep going. I've seen more people die than I can count, several of them right under my hands, but it never gets easier." And yet she spoke very detached about it. Maybe that was her way of dealing with it. The tribe looked so peaceful, Ryan wondered how she had seen so much death. Was there war here too? It seemed they could never outrun the fighting.

The sound of the door opening, drew their attention. Jay had changed, looked more grown-up now. Maybe it was the scruff on his face or the dark roots of his otherwise bleached hair, maybe it was the dark circles under his eyes. In his arms he was carrying an infant, nestled safely into his chest. Ryan stood up to greet him, relieved to see his tired face splitting into a grin.

"Ryan, Trudy", he said, giving them both a one-armed hug. "It's great to see you."

Brady came running towards him, wrapping her arms around his legs. "Jay!"

"You've grown a lot, Brady." Jay stroked her hair, then sat down in a chair next to Solaris. The baby in his arms gurgled in its sleep.

"Who's that?", Brady asked, looking at the baby.

"That's Eli. He's my son."

Ryan gaped at him. Son? Had Jay really been gone long enough to meet a girl, fall in love and have a son with her? Time had been flying past them, apparently. Trudy looked just as shocked, which made their old friend laugh softly.

"Son?" Amber's voice was weak, but she pushed herself into a sitting position, ignoring her sister's protests. She blinked a few times, before she took Jay in. She looked at him long and hard, Ryan could only imagine what was going through her mind. She'd probably seen him hold Little Bray like that, she was definitely thinking about her son. "You look… good."

"I've been better", he said. "But how are you? You didn't use to faint easily."

Amber looked at her sister, squeezing her hand. "It's not every day you see your long lost sister again."

"Sister?" Jay looked from Amber to Solaris, then back again. Maybe he was expecting them to be joking, but when none of them called it, he frowned. "Well, that certainly is unexpected. What about the rest? Where are they?"

"It's just us", Trudy said. "We all needed to get out of the city for a while and somehow we ended up here."

"What Trudy means", Amber said, her voice measured as she tried to keep it steady. "Is that I had to get out. There was more war after the Anarchists and Bray… and… Bray and Junior… They didn't…"

"Oh no…" Jay looked at the baby sleeping in his arms, then back at Amber who was leaning against Solaris's shoulder. "I'm so sorry Amber. I know how much…"

"Don't!", she snapped. "Don't you dare say you know how I feel. You didn't even like Bray."

"I didn't dislike him either. And I genuinely cared for your son." He rubbed his tired eyes, shaking his head slightly. "I do know how you feel. Eli's mother, Cherri, died giving birth to him. So I know."


End file.
